


The 14th Century Crisis

by Tawnyspots



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crisis of Faith, Crowley is Bad at Feelings (Good Omens), Fluff and Angst, Ineffable Husbands (Good Omens), M/M, One Shot, Pining, Supportive Crowley, Worried Aziraphale (Good Omens)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-07-30 15:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20099263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tawnyspots/pseuds/Tawnyspots
Summary: Aziraphale finds himself questioning God's grand plan, and is surprised when Crowley helps him. Crowley, meanwhile, gets a surprise of his own.





	The 14th Century Crisis

A damp dusk settled on the land. Backed up against the shadows, a serpent crawled across the ground. Golden eyes lit up the dark. He slit his tongue in the air, taking in the scent of decay and ruin. Smoke rose to the sky as the world was lit up with fire. People dragged themselves down the stoned street, or left themselves to die by the road. The serpent slivered forward. Black boils lumped on people’s skin, faces pale as a corpse and shivering with fever. 

It was almost like Hell. 

The serpent gave an annoyed hiss. What trouble could be caused when everyone was waiting to die? What could be more of a nuisance than mortality? 

_ ‘Never mind,’ _ He thought, rising up and transforming himself. _ ‘I can wait.’ _

He stood against a small house, hiding away from the sickly fire out front. A woman cried out in anguish. He closed his eyes, blocking out the drawn-out echoes. He wasn’t supposed to feel bad for humans, or even like them that much. 

But it didn’t seem fair. 

They only had so many decades to live a life in Earth, and it was still cut short by disease and famine. He himself had already lived through 14 centuries. Humans were beginning to live longer than before- until a famine and plague swept the entire land. 

Cutting his thoughts short, a man left the house beside him. Cloth and leather covered him from head-to-toe, and his face hid behind a creepy leather mask and hat. The stranger tottered and swayed side to side. He only kept his balance with his stick. 

“Have you been drinking, Doctor?” The demon called out. He stepped out the shadows when the doctor turned around, 

“Is that you, Crowley?” 

Strange. People who recognised him referred to him as _ Master _Crowley. He narrowed his eyes, only to widen them as the doctor took off his mask, 

“Aziraphale!” He realised, leaning his head to the side. “You look dreadful.” 

He was only answered by an agitated glare, but he wasn’t wrong. Dried blood coated Aziraphale’s usually beautiful face. His bright blonde hair matted and darkened with soot and dirt. His blue-ish eyes bagged, and stung a light red. 

"When was the last time you slept?" Crowley asked, "Or bathed?" 

Aziraphale opened his mouth, only to close it again. He frowned in confusion, "I can't recall," He murmured, swaying at bit. "Angel's don't need rest, anyway." 

Crowley stepped forward, steadying the angel. He glanced around; he couldn’t be _ seen _helping anyone. He pushed Aziraphale, surprisingly compliant, towards the darkness beside the house. Crowley sat him down on the dark ground, but was then met with protest, 

“I don’t have time for this,” He mumbled. Aziraphale tried to get back up, but Crowley held him down with little effort. “What are you doing here, Crowley?” 

“I’m just here to mess things about.” He said, sitting down beside him. 

“You!” Aziraphale’s cold glare turned on to Crowley, who flinched, “Did _you_ do all this!?” 

“What? No!” He leant away from the angel; in fear he’d be struck. “Do you really think_ I’d _cause an epidemic like this?” 

The angel’s stare remained hateful for a long while, then emptied into a bleak gaze. He dropped his head, “No, you’re right. I’m sorry.” He sighed. “I- I wish I had some idea of what was going on. I’ve spent months trying to heal, performing miracles, and watching people die. Heaven won’t speak to me, and there’s no time to visit. We don't know what’s caused this, we don't know how to fix it.” 

“I’ve no idea,” Crowley murmured back. “Although I did tell my head office that I started this, thought someone ought to take credit.” 

“Can I go now?” Aziraphale asked, probably not even listening. “Angels. They don’t need rest.” 

"In Heaven maybe, but down here you have a human body." He remarked, and Aziraphale didn't say anything back. He stared at nothing, his eyes dark and bare. Crowley let him have his rest, despite the damp air and the low moans of anguish. He hadn’t seen this angel this upset since the banishment of Adam and Eve. 

"Why am I here?" Aziraphale finally asked. 

Crowley gave a shrug, "Opposite to me; You're here to undo the trouble I cause." 

"But _ why? _" He said, his voice tight with grief. "What's the point?" 

Crowley shot him a look of surprise. Was Aziraphale, Mr _God-Is-Ineffable,_ really questioning it all now? After everything he watched humanity go through already? 

"And before you say it, the Great Flood was different." He continued, his dragged his gaze over the whole street. "Millions upon millions of people are dying, and I don't even know how to help them. In a whole family, I could only save a mother and child. Nothing is working, and I'm not strong enough to continue my miracles." He dropped his gaze with a defeated shake of his head, "Even if I was, I couldn't save everyone." 

Crowley's heart gave an unexpected tug. Aziraphale's grief was harder to watch than he’d expected. He never considered how easy his own job was; Cause trouble, and take credit for what the humans do themselves. Aziraphale's job was more than the opposite- If he couldn't do it all, then humanity would suffer, and so would he. 

Crowley's sympathy, mixed with his own frustration at God's indifference, made his whole body tense. All he wanted to do was cry with Aziraphale. 

"You do an amazing job here," Crowley began, hoping to say the right things. "Humanity wouldn't have gotten this far without your influence, and I know you wish you could save everyone, but you know you can't." 

"I know." Aziraphale sighed, leaning against Crowley. "It just doesn't seem right; All these people born to live, created by God, only for a tragedy to take them away.” 

"Agreed, God has a strange way of showing her love," Crowley looked up at the night sky, covered in cloud and smoke. "But every miracle you pull off still blesses somebody's life. Sure, that mother you helped still lost her husband and siblings, but you saved her child. She'll still have hope at the end of it all, everyone will." 

"You really think so?" Aziraphale looked up at him, relief and strength reviving his eyes again. Something fizzed in Crowley's body as he gazed back, and he forgot about the World he was in. For a second, he was in his own World, where there was nobody except him and Aziraphale. 

"I do, and if Heaven isn't happy then tell them to actually do something about it.” He said with a nod. “Look at you, helping others all day and night even though it’s destroying you. I think that makes you better than any other angel that’s safe in Heaven." 

Aziraphale gave a soft chuckle, letting himself get comfortable at Crowley's side. "Thank you, Crowley." He yawned, allowing sleep take over. "It's a shame you fell, you'd have made a wonderful angel." 

"Urgh, what a horrid thing to say." Crowley gagged, but only a soft snore answered him. Giving in to the temptation, he pressed the side of his head against Aziraphale's. His touch filled Crowley with a warmth he hadn't felt before. It wasn't like the fires of hell, that burnt the air and choked the souls of the damned. 

No, this was.. Comforting, like a bonfire in winter. Like what he remembered from his very vague memories of Heaven... 

The warmth inside Crowley became chilly, and he took his head away. 

_ 'It's a shame you fell.' _

He didn't even mean to fall. He kept questioning authority because they didn't know any better than he did. They only pretended to, to keep angels in their place. He began like Aziraphale did, questioning why humans were being treated with such scorn. 

"Don't you start doing what I did," Crowley whispered, "Hell is no place for you. Neither is Heaven, really. You deserve better." 

Crowley couldn't help but press against him again, taking care not to wake Aziraphale up. The warmth returned, but confusion dwelled inside him. What _ was _this? He had never heard of any demon talk of such comfort and warmth. Perhaps they were too embarrassed. After all, demons weren’t supposed to be soft. 

But having a teeny-tiny soft spot for someone wouldn’t end the World, could it? It was just one person. One person who cared for every living thing on Earth, who wasn’t disgusted by him, who sheltered him from the first rain. 

One person that Crowley would fight Heaven and Hell for. 

_ ‘So long as nobody ever finds out.‘ _ He decided with a wince. _ ‘This is an angel we're dealing with here. The soft feelings will go, I just have to wait it out.’ _

As he sat, waiting for his vengeance to return, Aziraphale would often twitch and mumble in his sleep. Probably dreaming of a better World. 

_ ‘Would I be there?’ _ He wondered, before shaking his head with frustration. _ ‘Christ, why does thatmatter? He has better things to think about than me.’ _

“That’s lovely, Crowley…” Aziraphale mumbled between snores. A sudden emotion flared in Crowley like fire. He forced himself not to flinch at the intensity. Did Aziraphale think of Crowley in his sleep? To him, was he really _ that _important? He had never been important like that before. Not since…

No, don’t go there. 

The overwhelming emotion died down, but it still left it’s mark. A mark that would stretch across his heart forever. Hell, Heaven- In that moment neither of them mattered. 

Earth mattered. 

The only place he belonged mattered. 

The night had no sign of being over any time soon. No mischief would come out of tonight, but that was fine. 

There was something much more important to take care of. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My 1st fanfic in a while


End file.
